Special Operations
by AndyArcher
Summary: A Wood Elf boy and his family are poor and kicked around by the local authority, but when the Legion's Special Operations team begins looking for recruits, he sees it as a way to get himself out of the gutter and into the pages of history!
1. Bullseye

**So this is my third fanfic, and second oblivion themed one. I felt bad for discontinuing my other one, but I still stand by it, so I decided to make this story. Unlike my other story it is one long, continuous one about one person so… enjoy!**

The cobblestone streets of the Imperial City were packed with people of all races. The majestic High Elves stood tall amongst the crowd, while Wood Elves had to jump just to get a view of the man standing on a wooden crate. He was dressed in the standard Imperial Guard armor and wielded a silver longsword. An iron shield could be seen at his feet. Across his shoulder was a steel bow and on his back, matching arrows. To the general audience he was simply bringing news of the day, including yet another war in Skyrim, and another fight between the clans of Morrowind. However, the last point on the list struck the ears of a young Wood Elf boy. The Imperial council was looking for more members to join the "Special Operations." A squad put together after the Oblivion crisis. They hadn't looked for members since the creation of the squad. This news spread a buzz of excitement over the crowd. Being a member meant great adventure, the best equipment, and great pay. The young boy was overjoyed, for it was his chance to get his family out of the Waterfront. But just as his mind was running way on him, something slammed it back to the ground. The age limit. All applicants had to be sixteen years old. With the news over, the crowd began to scatter, off to do their shopping. While the boy slowly wandered back to his home. His long, brown hair shrouding his face.

"Aranir! You're late!" shouted a woman

"Sorry mom. There was a lot of news today" Aranir replied

"AH! Still bothering yourself with that nonsense? Not like it concerns us. The city will just come banging on the door when they want to tell us the rent is due, we don't need a snot-nosed brat telling us before hand. Come inside, your soup is getting cold"

So Aranir's mother ushered him inside the door and slammed it shut. He saw his brother wasn't sitting at his spot.

"Where's Fillimir?" asked Aranir

"Got himself locked up again. Only two months this time. Got caught robbing the Gilded Carafe. Just think if he had pulled it off! We would be able to eat for a year!"

"Dad wouldn't have liked us having to steal for our money." said Aranir, immediately regretting doing so.

"Well he's not here to put food on the table, so we have to." snapped his mother

After that they ate in silence. Dinner was a cold soup with stale bread. They went outside to wash the dishes in Lake Rumare. It was sunset, and the sun cast a golden light over the lake. It was the only good thing about living in the Waterfront. He saw the moons coming over the mountains and saw a fish jump and send ripples through the suns reflection. He caught himself standing in place and quickly ran to catch up with his mom.

"Hey mom… there was one interesting thing in the news today."

"Surprising. What was it?"

"The council is looking for more members to join the Special Operations"

"Why is _that _interesting?"

"Well, they haven't looked for members since before I was born, and…I was thinking I might apply."

His mom dropped to clay plate into the water and it smashed on the rocks. She took a deep breath and started to speak loudly

"Oh, and leave your poor mother alone! You know I'm sickly and your brother is always locked up in that cell. I need you here!"

"But it will be a great way to get money!" pleaded Aranir

"NO! Besides, you're a bit young aren't you?" said his mom

"The tryouts aren't for a month, by then I will be fifteen which is only a year beneath. And that means that if Fillimir behaves, he could be out of jail to help you."

His mom took a deep breath. "Let me think about it."

And with that, the conversation was over. They finished with the dishes and went back to their house. He walked over to, and slumped into his bed. The mattress was just a large sack filled with old straw and the pillow as well. The blankets were ripped, some old holes patched, but some new ones weren't. Although he was thankful to have even that as most people in the Waterfront didn't. he laid his head on the pillow, thinking of himself in a flowing cape with his bow, standing valiantly on the battlefield. His thoughts were interrupted by the scuttling of a rat on the floor. Exhausted from the day he drifted off to sleep.

The next day, his mother went to visit the other local Wood Elves down to road. So with his brother in jail, Aranir was alone. He had a breakfast of stale bread and an apple off an apple tree. He had decided to practice his archery near the cemetery. He figured he would apply for that, which might give him a lead, for most people would go for melee weapons. He was already very good with his bow. Being a Wood Elf gave him an advantage right away. But he also hunted a lot to get food. When he reached the graveyard, he picked up a blue flower and placed it against his father's grave. He, like all the people buried in this cemetery, died defending the city from Mehrunes Dagon during the crisis. This was one of the reasons he wished to join the Legion. To protect people, like his father did. After saying a few words he got up and grabbed his bow. It was from Valenwood. Carved from one of the most sacred trees in the forest. It was the only thing the Legion allowed his father to bring on their mission. He refused to use the standard bows. It was tall enough to reach Aramir's chin. It was a light brown, carved with intricate designs of leaves and other plants native to Valenwood. He strung it and nocked an arrow. He stood about 25 feet from a tree. He crouched and took a deep breath and held it. His aim steadied and he aligned the head with a knot in the tree and fired. A loud twang of the bow resounded off the wall behind him as the arrow slammed into the tree. He walked forward to examine his shot. One inch off the mark. _Not Bad! _He thought. He repeated the process a many times until the sun was high in the sky. He was never more than about 3 inches away from the knot. The sun was just beginning to lower itself to near the mountains when he shot another arrow, and hit the knot dead-on. He heard a crack as the arrow twisted to wood and snapped off a chunk. _Now __**that's **__a kill shot! He thought. _Proud of his work, he headed back to his shack, hoping to make it back before his mother. He ran as fast as he could, so as he turned the corner he slammed right into the local tax collector.

"Ah, _Boy_, I was wondering where you and you're mother were" he said in his smooth, Imperial voice.

"She is out right now" replied Aramir, as he slid past the man but the Imperial grabbed his collar and put his face so close to Aramir's he could feel his hot breath.

"Look, you little _tree-hugger_, you better hope your mom is out begging for Septims because if you don't pay the rent, you're going to be evicted"

"The rent isn't due for a week!" exclaimed Aramir

"Well, I want it now!" the man said as he threw Aramir to the ground. "You better have a hundred Septims by this time tomorrow."

"One hundred! That's almost double what it was last month!"

The man walked way and said over his shoulder: "_Deal with it"_


	2. A Plan

"What!" screamed Aranir's mother.

"That's what he said mom! He said he wanted one hundred Septims by tomorrow!"

Aranir had just returned home with the news of the tax collector.

"Well this is thievery! We can't afford that." she said

"See, if I joined the Legion, I could stop this!" Aranir saw his chance for him to persuade his mother.

"No, you would just _support _it. And why are you still worried about that? We need to make money now!" she said, sighing. "I suppose we will need to beg just to keep a roof over our heads, forget food, we'll need to forage for that."

"We can sell some things, I can sell my bed." Said Aranir, hoping his mom wouldn't take him seriously, for the thought of sleeping on the floor made him cringe.

"No… I should be the one to sell mine."

"But you're sick mom! You need to sleep on something!"

"Hmmm… well, I'm sure your brother has a comfy bed to sleep on right now so I guess we'll have to sell his."

And so the two went to the market district and sold the bed to a general store and got 150 Septims. They returned home and waited.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

The Tax Collector was here. Aranir's mother answered the door.

"Hello there. Ah! I see you have the rent!" said the man

"At great cost you filthy snake!" replied the woman

"You better watch your tongue, you piece of filth, before I cut it off!" said the Imperial, the sun glinting off a silver dagger at his hip.

"Leave my home now, Mr. Osric!" demanded the mother.

"Yes, I do have other matters to attend to. Ones involving civilized beings, in a much nicer building, unlike this rat hole." And with that he left down the street to harass another family.

Aranir's mother sat down on her bed and wept.

"Why do you let him talk to us like that?" Aranir asked

"Because we can't do anything about it. Now go to sleep"

And the days went on, and a moon cycle came, and went. Aranir was getting better with his bow. He was never more than an inch off now. After a practice he sat down and counted the days. _Today is Middas , and the tryouts are on Loredas, which means I have 2 days. _He thought. It was beginning to get dark, so he decided to wander home. When he walked inside, he was surprised to see his mom lying on the bed. Normally she is off picking herbs for her medicine at this time.

"Mom?" said Aranir

"Oh, Aranir, could you go pick the herbs for me. I'm not really feeling up to it today." she said

"Yea, sure." said Aranir. He put his bow and arrows on his bed and grabbed a sack. He wandered to a field on the opposite side from the graveyard. There was a patch of nightshade and aloe vera, exactly what he needed. He spent a few minutes digging up their roots and put them in the sack. By the time he was finished getting the herbs, the sun was down and the crescent moons were high in the sky. He could see the constellations above. And saw that the Steed was almost dead center. With a start, he realized that tomorrow was his birthday! It was the 23rd of MidYear tomorrow! Excited, he ran home. He burst in the door, but his excitement was quickly over thrown when he saw his mom weeping again.

"What's wrong?" he asked worryingly

"Mr. Osric came by, demanding the rent again. We didn't have enough, so he began to demand your bow as payment! I refused to give it to him because I knew how much it meant to you and now…" she cut herself off weeping.

"What mom?" said Aranir, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder

"We have one day to pack up what we have, and leave. We've been evicted." She said, sobbing loudly.

"Oh, what are we going to do?" said Aranir, slumping into the bed.

"I've been thinking… if we sell all the furniture we have, that can give me enough money to go to Bravil and buy a cheap apartment there." She explained. "I can hide from the Legion, and I'm sure I can find someone from the mages guild to mix up some potions for my illness."

"That's great! But…you keep saying, 'I' don't you mean 'we'?"

"No. you are going to join the Legion." She said with a smile

"Yes! Thank you!" he said hugging his mother. "but wait… something doesn't sit right. I'm sure we had more than enough to pay the rent."

"We did. I was going to give this to you tomorrow, but now seems a better time than ever." She said as she pulled a small package wrapped in ragged cloth out from under her pillow. Aranir grabbed the gift and began to unwrap it. It didn't take long until he noticed a chain, and was able to pull it out, revealing a necklace. The chain was pure silver, leading right to the pendant, which was a small, red maple leaf, behind which were two crossed arrows, all encircled by a gold ring.

"It's the symbol of our clan in Valenwood."

"How did you afford this?"

"All I needed to buy was the chain. I already had the pendant. It has been in our family for generations. It was said to have been forged by the Dwemer themselves, before they disappeared of course."

"It's beautiful." said Aranir

And then they ate a dinner of mutton and potatoes, for, she decided to splurge on something to make the night into a little, early birthday party. However, the night was filled with a bit of sorrow because they both knew that this would be the last night they got to spend with each other for a long time. They went to their beds and lied down for the last time. Aranir played with his new necklace and stared at the ceiling. He was going to have an adventure soon!

The next morning, they packed up what little things they had and sold the furniture. They packed a few days worth of herbs and bread into his mothers bag, for she had to make the journey to Bravil alone. She had to, or else Aranir wouldn't make it back in time for the competition. Standing on the bridge by the main gate, they said their goodbyes. When she had taken a few steps, she turned around and said:

"Good Luck."

**So? Who liked the description of the necklace? I did. It's very Canadian. So I'm sure I will update soon, as I have nothing better to do. Review!**


	3. The Tryouts

**So first off, I have a job for you guys. I want you to tell me if the way I do dialogue bothers you. I personally thought it was fine, but due to a review I realize it may not be. So here is Aranir's highly anticipated day!**

Aranir awoke in a bed with green sheets. He used the Septims his mom left him to sleep in a middle class place called The Merchants Inn. He would have saved money and went to a lower-class place, but he didn't want to risk anything like bug bites or disease to ruin this day. He got up and stared at his surroundings. It was a lot nicer than his old house. The bedroom alone was larger than their shack. There was a red and gold carpet on the floor, instead of the usual dirt and wood.

He went to his bag and put on his nicest clothes he had. A green, collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up to leave his arms free to strap on his leather bracers. For pants, he put on simple brown slacks with a leather belt. He sat on the bed and put on his leather boots. He went to a mirror on the far side of the room and looked at his reflection. He saw his long, messy hair and decided he needed to do something to it. He searched the drawers of a nearby dresser until he found an oak hairbrush. He combed his hair back, and tucked it behind his large ears. This made him able to see his blue eyes clearly.

"I think I look a little older now." he said to himself.

He strung his bow and pulled it over his shoulder. He checked the fletchings of his arrows and put on his quiver. He went to a large, round table near the door and grabbed a piece of bread and some grapes. He lounged around the room for a bit, enjoying his surroundings. The tryouts didn't start until noon. So he had loads of time. He wandered down to the bar area and saw that the room was full of people. He approached the barkeep.

"What's with the crowd?" he asked

"Oh, the Special Operations tryouts have caught the attention of people from all over Cyrodiil. There's a few folk in the corner there who came all the way from Vvardenfell" said the bartender, pointing to a group of three shady-looking Dunmer. "They look like trouble, mate. I'd stay away from them."

Aramir nodded and left the Inn. He thought he would warm up before the competition. He looked at the sun and decided it was about ten 'o' clock. This gave him two hours. Suddenly, he realized he didn't even know where the event was being held. He wandered around the market until he found a poster that read:

_**COME AND PROVE YOUR SKILL**_

_The Legion's Special Operations Squad is looking for new recruits_

_Accepting people of all races and genders, _

_Must have skills in some form of weaponry_

_Come to the palace grounds at noon on the 25__th__ of MidYear_

_Participants must be at least 16 years of age_

The last line made Aranir shiver. He still hadn't thought of a way to work past that. He hoped his skill could win them over. By this point it was about 10:30. He went down an alley and found a small courtyard with a well and a tree. He got out his bow and fired a few shots at the tree. Every time he shot, an echo came off the limestone walls around him. As the sun drew nearer to its high point, he saw people begin to make their way to the palace grounds. Not knowing his way around the city well, he followed. Soon enough, the people had begun to crowd the steps right in front of the great, palace doors. Then, the doors swung open to reveal a tall Altmer, wearing elegant, red robes. He had a wooden staff on his back. He approached the crowd with grace, making the crowd go eerily silent. All that could be heard was the rustling of the leaves.

"Welcome, to the Imperial Palace. I am Chancellor Ocato." His words were powerful. "Now, let me explain the process of this grand event. There will be three groups. One for archery, one for magic, and one for melee weapons. Regardless of the size of the group, only a maximum of three candidates can be chosen. The proctor for each group will be a guard captain. Afterwards, the captains will discuss the candidates and give an answer at sundown."

A wave of excitement swept over the crowd. Participants looked a lot more nervous now, while simple spectators were glad they were going to see such a competition.

"Now, if you wish to participate in the magic category, follow the Battlemage to my right." He motioned his hand to a small, Breton woman who waved her hand to signal the spellcasters to follow. He saw many Bretons, a few Argonians and Khajiits, a single Imperial, and two Bosmer follow her. And behind them, was one of the Dunmer he saw at the Inn. Her black hair flowed behind her as she ran towards the Battlemage.

"If you wish to participate in the melee category, follow the Legion Captain to my right. Again, the captain waved his hand, signaling a large group of Orcs, Redguards, and Nords along with a group of Legion guards. However, Aranir saw another one of the Dark Elves, wielding a silver longsword, follow.

"Finally, if you have come here to show your archery skills, follow the final captain." He said, signaling to a man behind him. Aranir began to walk towards him. On his right were two Khajiits, while on his left, an Imperial. Behind him was a group of Wood Elves, Argonians and one High Elf, and the final of the three Dunmer. He had a long, black, bow with silver string. He was dressed in completely black armor, but with no helmet, leaving his black hair to fall to his shoulders.

They followed the Captain to the Imperial Prison area. It was like a miniature version of the city, round walls and a tower in the center. Splitting the sphere in half was another wall with a gate on either side of the tower. The captain unlocked a gate and led them into the back area. They saw that a shooting range had been set up on the field. There was only one target, meaning they would need to go one at a time. Aranir's heart began to race. The captain stopped and turned to face them.

"I am Wade Osric." he announced. "I am a Legion Forester, and one of the best bowmen in the Legion. I shall be judging your abilities today. I am going to set myself up at a table over by that tent and you are going to tell me your information, and show me your stuff, one at a time. How's that sound?"

The group was silent.

"I see. Okay, you there, Khajiit. With me." He pointed a finger at the female Khajiit at his right. She followed him to the table and after a brief moment of discussion, motioned her to the range. She stood 25 feet away from the bale of hay.

"You get one shot." Wade explained.

The Khajiit nodded and nocked an arrow. She breathed deeply and brought the bowstring to her chin. She leveled her bow, and fired.

*THUMP*

The arrow hit the target, but only on the first ring. The captain nodded his head and wrote something down. He looked up and motioned her back to the group.

"NEXT!" Wade said

The other Khajiit approached the desk. After a similar procedure he too, went to the range. Unlike the female, he was left-handed and held the bow with his right hand. A deep breath.

*CLANG*

The arrow hit the limestone wall and ricocheted into the crowd, forcing the Captain to duck his head as the arrow slammed into the paper he wrote on. With a scowl, he yelled:

"NEXT!"

The Imperial woman went next. Talked to the guard, fired her shot. She managed to hit one of the inner circles. Impressed, the guard nodded and scribbled something on the paper. And so this process went on for all the other contestants. A Wood Elf just finished his shot, but before the man could signal the next contestant, he saw that the Dark elf was already standing in front of him. Shocked, he asked for the information and sent him to the field. The Dunmer drew his bow, crouched, and took a deep breath. Then, he aimed his silver arrowed at the target. He exhaled, and like his body, the arrow released. A quick swishing of wind was heard than…

*THUMP*

The arrow hit dead center.

"_Oh man…not only am I underage, but this guy is so great. If I don't get a bullseye like him, The Imperial will get picked over me!" Aranir thought._

"Very impressive!" said Wade "NEXT!"

Aranir took a deep breath and stepped forward. His heart was racing. Everything around him seemed to swirl uncontrollably. Every step he took seemed like an eternity. As he approached the desk, the captain eyed him, as if this was the first time he got a good look at the boy.

"Name?" he said.

"Aranir."

"Address?"

Aranir had to think about this one. Technically he didn't have a home. He figured he would have to say he lived with his mom.

"Bravil." he answered.

"Age?"

_Here we go…_

"Sixteen."

The guard nodded and motioned him towards the field.

"_WHAT! THAT'S IT? I was so worried all that time and he believed me? Wow, that…I…" _Aranir was at a loss of words. "_Ok, calm down man, come on you need to relax." _He was at the field now. "_Breath. Okay, just like we practiced ok?" _He drew his bow and nocked an arrow. Time seemed to slow down. Although the people on the steps were murmuring, the world was silent to him. He pulled back the string of his bow, with a quiet groan of the wood. He pulled it right up to the skin below his ear. His muscles cried out. The designs seemed to move around as he stared at thearrowhead. He moved his focus to the target. It was like an artist's blank canvas, ready to be painted on. With a final, deep breath, he fired the shot. Although to him it seemed to take hours, the entire process only took about 3 seconds.

_***THUMP* *CRASH***_

He hit the center ring, taking down the target with the arrow.

"VERY GOOD!" said Wade, frantically writing something on his paper.

Relieved, he returned to the steps. Some contestants smiled and clapped, while others simple scowled and turned their shoulders. At the top of the steps, the Dunmer man simply nodded at him, with no sign of any expression.

"Very well then, the results shall be given at sundown." said Wade

The group wandered off towards the gates, crossed the bridge and went to the market district. Aranir returned to his room and lay down on his bed. _I did it! I really did it! _His shot was a lot harder than he usually shot, so it had taken its toll on his arms. But look at where it got him! _It was so worth it. _

He dazed for a bit and relaxed in his room. After a while he looked outside and saw the sun beginning to settle into Lake Rumare. So he made his way to the palace and saw an already large group of people. He couldn't see some of the people who were at the competition, so he figured that they didn't even bother to come. Finally, just as the sun was sneaking behind a mountaintop, Chancellor Ocato and the three captains emerged from the palace. Each captain carried a tightly wrapped scroll in their hands.

"Fair people of the Imperial City, and of the entire Empire!" said Ocato "The results are in! now, Battlemage Amande, step forward." And so she did. She unrolled the scroll and began to speak.

"The three winning contestants are: Neilson, the Breton, Han-Iluu , the Dunmer, and finally, Gregorin, the Bosmer."

The three contestants proudly walked up the steps and waited behind the Battlemage.

"Guard Captain Vanier, please speak" said Ocato. The Legionary unrolled the scroll and spoke.

"Shabae, theDunmer, James, the Redguard , and Ned, the Nord."

Again, the winners lined up behind the captain.

"Finally, Wade the Forester."

He unrolled the scroll and said:

"Elizabeth, the Imperial, Ashahul, the Dunmer, and Aranir, the Bosmer."

_YES! _

Aranir ran up the steps, far ahead of the others, and approached Wade.

"Let's have a round of applause for our candidates!" said Ocato. "Although this is only a part of the test. The next challenge these brave people will need to face, are the written exams."

**Awww Yea, EXAMS! That was a lot longer than other chapters. (double actually) Don't forget your job, and tell me in a review!**


	4. The Test

**Sorry it's been a while. Forget how often I was writing chapters before because I was out of school then. Now, I have tons of homework every night thanks to my math teacher. (bitch) and then I went on vacation for a week, which I would have written sooo much during but NO COMPUTER. So, my apologies, but here's a new chapter!**

"A TEST!" exclaimed Aranir. He and the other candidates were just told that they had to perform a written exam in order to move on.

"Of course, " said chancellor Ocato. "You can't expect us to let you into a team such as the Spec. Ops without a testing your mental skills. Regardless of how skilled you may be, we can't trust you with a mission if you can't think straight."

"That makes sense…I suppose…" said the bulking Nord, named Ned.

"Right. Well the test will take place tonight, in the Palace itself, so I shall lead you inside to explain. The show for these fine people is over." explained Ocato

With that, Ocato dismissed the crowd. After a minute of some complaining and mumbling from the citizens, they finally dispersed into the gates around the tower. Ocato led the group, consisting of all nine winning contestants and the proctors, towards the Imperial Palace. None of them had ever been in the Palace before, or so Aranir gathered from overhearing the whispers of the group. With a wave of Ocato's hand, the doors glowed a brilliant yellow hue, a golden ring making its way down the centre of the great wooden doors. The doors swung open revealing a tall, circular hallway. Directly in front of them, was another set of doors that led to the counsel room, according to Ocato.

Then, Ocato swung a right, and walked down the hallway. The walk seemed to take forever to Aranir, the walls were unbroken with no doors at all. Then he spotted a ramp that curved towards a door at the top. Ocato led the group through the door and into yet another hallway. The walls were only broken by a single door that lead onto a balcony overlooking the counsel room. Finally, the group traversed to a final hallway, this one with many doors. They walked a little further and finally Ocato stopped at the third door on the left.

"This is one of the libraries in the Palace. It was where the original Spec. Ops members took their tests, and it is where you will take yours." explained Ocato

Using the same technique he did to open the palace doors, he opened the library doors. The room was a small room, with only four shelves on either side, extending about 3 meters from the wall. Between each set of shelves was a desk. Totaling in 10 desks, there was a final, grand, oak desk at the end. It had intricate designs of rocks and birds, with pillars of lightning travelling down each pole.

Ocato stood in front of the desk and the group assembled in front of him, the archers in a line, with Aranir in the front, and Wade at the back. The other groups followed suit. Finally, Ocato spoke:

"Now, let me explain the rules. First off, the test will take place immediately after I explain."

"Wait! You're not going to give us a chance to study, or rest even?" asked the Imperial archer Elizabeth.

"No. Everything we do has a reason. You will not always be well rested in the field, and you need to be able to do create ideas and plans even while exhausted. Now, without further interruptions… Secondly, you will have one hour to complete 14 questions. Next, is you must get at least 12 questions right. And the last question you _must _get right in order to pass. Finally, only one person from each group can pass."

"WHAT!" exclaimed the group in unison.

"Well, if we allowed all nine of you in, it would almost double the squad in numbers."

"Well… then what if there is a tie?" exclaimed Neilson the Breton

"We have a number of tie breakers ready, although the chances that any of you will tie are low."

The group was silent. In fact, the world seemed silent. Aranir looked around the room and saw faces of anger, fear, but mostly faces of determination. _This is not going to be easy_. _But I've made it this far. _

"Okay then, we'll assign you each a desk." said Ocato

After a few minutes, all the contestants had been given a desk. They each had a sheet of parchment turned over, an inkwell, and a number of quills. Aranir was in the front corner with a bookshelf on one side, obscuring the adjacent contestant, and a wall on the other. Across the room was Neilson, one of the mages and next to him, Aranir could make out James the Redguard. He had no idea as to the locations of the Dark Elf Trio.

"Very well." said Ocato. "The proctors will stand watch and make routine rounds to keep you from cheating. BEGIN."

The room filled with the sound of ruffling papers and then the sounds of quills being sloshed in ink. When Aranir first saw the page he panicked. Each question was a paragraph long, many with another space for a paragraph long answer. He saw similar expressions of fear on Neilson's and James' first question read:

_An iron battle axe with a weight of approximately 5 lbs is thrown at a target 25 feet away with the wind blowing at 23kmph in the opposite direction. The target is 1ft in length and width. what is the probability that the axe will hit the target?_

"_OH MY GOD!" _Aranir thought_ "How am I supposed to answer these things? The only time I have ever thrown an axe is when I couldn't cut down a tree and got frustrated. Okay, calm down…let's read the next one." _It read:

_A steel arrow weighing10g, being shot by a bow with a 30lb draw –force being pulled to the shooters shoulder, who has an arm length of 71.5cm, with no wind. How far will the arrow go?_

"_EEEK! Even I can't answer that question!" _Suddenly, Aranir felt something brush against his mind. Then it disappeared. After a moment, it returned, only this time, it had a voice.

"_SHHHHH! Don't do anything, they'll notice!" said the voice_

"_Who are you?" Aranir thought, hoping the voice would receive the message_

"_It's me, Neilson. Now, just hear me out okay?"_

"_HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS!"_

"_I'm communicating telepathically. The scholar I studied under at the Arcane University was a candidate for the first Spec. Ops tryouts. He didn't pass the test so when I told him I was trying he taught me this so that I could use it this very moment."_

"_Isn't this cheating?"_

"_Kind of… Well, they're asking for us to cheat! Have you seen these questions? Anyway, I thought we could work together. Like, you can answer the second question right? Then I'm sure I can answer a few others. We can work together!"_

Aranir thought for a minute. "_Okay, I'm in. I'm sure I can work out the second one, but what are we going to do about the first?"_

Neilson's reply didn't come for a while. _"What about James? He's close enough that I won't be straining myself to much to communicate him, and he sure looks like he knows what he's doing."_

"_Alright then, contact him."_

"_Hold on, I'm not very good at this yet, I can only communicate with one person at a time."_

…a minute passed…

"_He's in too!" said Neilson "He says the answer to the first question is 23% of a hit."_

"_Alright!" Aranir wrote down the answer. "I was thinking about number two…I think the answer is 47ft"_

"_Good! I'll relay that to James." _

"45 minutes left!" said Ocato

Through James, the three of them were able to get the first 13 questions within about 40 minutes. They each combined their knowledge for question 9 which asked about a battle between a mage, and thief, and a warrior. Any questions that had to do with places and history, Neilson was able get easily, saying he studied Tamriel's past very thoroughly at the University. With only 5 minutes left, they needed to get the last question

"If we don't get this question, our efforts will be useless." said Neilson . The question read:

_You are on a top secret mission with a package of information on a unique spell/technique/weapon. (depending on your combat preference) You were given strict orders by your employer to not open the package, no matter the circumstances. You need to get the package from point A to B which happens to lead you through a dark forest. You are ambushed by bandits of immense power and numbers and you are cornered. What do you do? _

"_Well, shouldn't we surrender and see if they even want the package?"_ said Neilson. … "_Oh,_ _James says you should attack them all and defend the package at all costs."_

"_Problem with that is that if you die, they will be able to take the package" _Aranir pointed out.

"_Well, maybe we should just look at the damn package. Maybe there's an awesome spell inside that can destroy them all!" _said Neilson_. … "James says that's a terrible idea." _

"_It is. We were strictly told not to"_

With a sarcastic tone Neilson said: "_Well! That's a surprise! A little thief like you doesn't want a peek?"_

"_HEY! That's uncalled for!"_

"ONE MINUTE" Ocato bellowed.

"_Okay, we'll all put what we want. There's no time to argue now." _said Aranir

They did that. Finally the proctors collected the sheets and passed them to Chancellor Ocato who said:

"I will take these to my office to mark them, I will return when I am complete. If you make a single peep you will be disqualified." And with that, the High Elf left the room, leaving the proctors to stare at the candidates for what seemed like hours. Suddenly a quill rolled off the desk of the Wood Elf mage.

"Leave!" said the Battlemage Amande

"But…I…er" said the elf

"You have proven yourself incompetent. Now LEAVE!"

Scared, with tears flowing down his cheeks, he ran out of the library.

Aranir sat perfectly still for the remainder of the time. Aranir swore he could see the first rays of light flittering in from a window when Ocato returned.

"Well, those tests were some of the most interesting things I've ever read. First off I will save you the suspense and get rid of who didn't get the last question right. Ned the Nord, who insisted in butchering the lot of the bandits. Shubae the Dark Elf, who peeked at the package and Gregorin the Wood Elf who would have gotten the question wrong by looking at the package as well but it seems he has been disqualified anyway."

The two candidates who failed slowly rose to their feet. Ned left quickly, his pale cheeks hot with anger. Shubae however, insisted on walking to a table near the door and slammed his hand on the table.

"Please, leave Shubae." said Ocato

The Elf ignored him and drew a knife from its sheath on his boot. Slowly he brought the knife to the table. He placed the thickest part of the blade directly above the first digit of his index finger. He inhaled a deep breath and brought down the knife upon his finger, sending blood across the table and taking off the top of his finger. He screamed in agony and began to cry, leaving the finger part, he tucked his hand under his armpit and left the room silently.

**Creepy. Anyway that was pretty long wasn't it? Guess it's only fair. The results will be announced later!**


	5. Tie Breaker

**A/N: So, first off, I would like to give out a special thanks to Arty Thrip and DualKatanas for being VERY helpful and always reviewing. Secondly, I'm technically challenged, so I just recently realized that has been sending alerts and what not to my E-MAIL not my profile as I assumed. SO I found out that there are some people who have added this story to their favourites , but have never left a review sadly,… Anyway I just wanted to say THANK YOU. **

"Oh…my. Um… could one of you clean up this mess please?" said Ocato, motioning to the group of proctors on the far side of the library. He was referring to the forefinger that a losing contestant had chopped off his hand. One of the proctors obliged and quickly pushed the finger into a sack cloth using a dagger.

"Well now that THAT frightful scene is over, we can get on with business." said Ocato " You may be wondering why we had to kick that mage out, for doing something as trivial as knocking his quill off his desk. We didn't even know if he had passed the written test yet, nor did it matter, because he had failed the other test."

"What other test, your majesty?" asked James. "All you said was that we had to sit still and be quiet."

"Exactly." butted in Wade, the forester. "And he failed that. See, the quill had stayed still on the desk for that long, what made it fall off? There are no open windows in this room, so there are no drafts, and none of us proctors were nearby, so we couldn't have done anything. This means that he was doing something with the quill itself, or something that would have caused the quill to fall meaning he was not sitting still and disobeyed orders, thus making him unfit for the team."

Ocato rolled his eyes and said: "Thank you, Wade." with a sarcastic tone. "But he is correct. Missions in the Spec. Ops will require you to sit still for extended periods of time, and if you can't manage for just over an hour then, as Wade said, unfit."

Aranir was as nervous as ever. He was beginning to think he had got himself in a little deep. By this point, he wished he could just be back in his little shack by the lake. But he couldn't back down now. Besides, that little shack was all in the past now.

"Now, there are six of you left, and there are three spots available. You mages have lucked out and have a better chance now that one of you is gone." The chancellor ruffled through a fold in his robe and brought out a slip of paper. "Now, first, since no other warrior candidates remain, James, the Redguard is our first winner!"

James walked up with a broad grin on his face and shook Ocato's hand. "I figured I'd won when Shubae and Ned left, but I didn't want to say anything just in case."

"Good man, that's a good quality." Said Ocato. James winked at Aranir and Neilson and went to stand in front of the Legion guard Captain. "Now, we have three archers and two mages. Now, for the contestants that failed to get at least twelve answers correct, it is only Elizabeth." Elizabeth nodded and walked away. Her lip was trembling as she slammed the door behind her. After a few seconds of silence, a blood-curdling scream ensued. "Ah, very well… now surprisingly enough, the rest of you tied. You all had similar answers for the last question and all got fourteen answers correct. This is a first, regardless of the fact that there was only one other contest, but still surprising. But, we were not lying about the tie breakers. We did come prepared. Amande, could you please go get the alchemy tools?" The Battlemage left the room and returned with two complete sets of alchemy tools. Wooden Mortars, Retorts, Ambelics etc. They were set up on tables at separate ends of the room. The Battlemage also set a large sack on each of the desks.

"Now, Neilson and Han-Lluu, please choose a desk and stand behind it. Aranir and Ashahul, take a seat." The group obliged and Neilson took the desk to Aranir's right and the Dunmer on the left. He glanced over at the other Dunmer, but Ashahul shot him a glare of daggers, so he quickly looked away. Battlemage Amande placed a purple vial on each of the alchemist's desks.

"What has just been placed on your desk is a potion of levitation." Spoke Amande "Because these have been banned in Cryrodiil for years, you probably have very little experience with them. What you must do is use the potion and the tools in front of you to recreate the potion using the ingredients in the sack. YOU shall be the one testing it, so you better be careful. Now, you have one hour to finish. Go!"

When she spoke the last word, both of the mages went to work pouring the potion into a retort and sniffing it. They spent the following hour cutting, smelling, pounding and grinding away at ingredients. The Dunmer girl had a look as cold as ice on her face, but it was calm, as if she had done this a million times before. Neilson on the other hand was sweating buckets. Aranir wasn't sure if it was the boiling water beneath him, or the fact that there was only ten minutes left. The remaining time was spent it total silence, the only noise being the bubbling of two concoctions, and the steady beat of two mortar and pestles.

"Times up." said Amande, just as the last drop was being poured into Neilson's vial. "Now, please follow outside, and bring your potions." The group quickly paced their way back down the hallway. After a couple flights of stairs they returned to the main floor. Ocato claimed he had other matters to attend to, so he left the rest in the hands of the proctors, and said to send a messenger when the tests were complete. Amande swung open the great, front doors and a rush of fresh air hit them like a wall. It was nice to be outside after the hours of being in that stuffy library. It was night outside, but there was adequate lighting because the two moons shone brightly. They walked down the steps and into the graveyard immediately surrounding the tower.

"Now, Han-Lluu. Proceed forward and take a sip of your potion." Spoke Amande. The Dunmer walked towards the base of a tree. She pulled the purple vial out of her pocket. She uncorcked it and a waft of purple smoke drifted out. After she spun the vial a few times, she poured some into her mouth. Suddenly, she began to drift up off the ground, shaky at first but she managed to straighten herself out. She floated forwards and then shot into the air. She did a mid-air summersault and landed on one of the upper branches of the tree.

"Ta Da." She said, still with the same look as before.

"Alright then, your turn Neilson" said Amande, motioning towards the tree. Neilson gulped and stumbled over to the tree. Han-Lluu had floated back down and joined the rest of the group. Neilson turned and faced the crowd. He adjusted his collar and took a large gulp of his concoction. He stood there for quite a few seconds until he slowly began to lift off the ground. He nearly flipped over but managed to grab a branch and straighten himself out. He floated up towards the top of the tree, but very slowly. Suddenly, his robe caught on a branch and stopped him midair, jerking him back. He wiggled to try and free himself. After a minute of struggling, he managed to but then violently fell to the ground. There was a loud snap and Neilson screamed in agony. Aranir saw blood all over the grass where he landed, it was coming out of a gash on Neilson's leg. Amande rushed over and shot a ball of blue light at him. The bleeding stopped, but he still had a rather large wound.

"Oh dear," she said. A red glow formed in her hand and she began healing the minor wounds on his body. She got up and addressed the group. "Well, I'm sorry about your leg, but business must go on. Although Neilson's potion _**did**_ work, Han-Lluu's was far superior. Yes, catching yourself on that branch was bad luck, but from what we saw, Han-Lluu had so much more control and grace, and her potion worked faster and more consistently. I'm sorry, but Han-Lluu is the next member of the Special Operations Squad!"

The group clapped, somewhat half-heartedly however. Legion Guards carried Neilson off the ground. Aranir shrugged at him and mouthed "sorry". Neilson just smirked at nodded.

"Now then, I guess it's time for our little bowmen." said Wade. "Follow me back into the palace." The group, now consisting of James, Aranir, Han-Lluu, Ashahul, Wade, Amande and Vanier, the guard Captain, went back into the warmth of the Imperial Palace. They congregated in the space directly behind the front doors, and before the council room. "Righty then. In order to be a member of the Spec. Ops, you must not only be able to hit a target, but you must be as silent as a shadow. Yes, being sneaky in society is frowned upon and suspicious, but on the missions you might be deployed on, it will be necessary. So now we'll test your skill in stealth."

The group was lead into the basement of the Imperial Palace next. As they opened the door at the bottom of the ramp, they were greeted with the expected stacks of dusty boxes. However, when they turned the corner, there were strange items that Aranir had never seen before. Some items he had, but not the size they were down here. Mesmerized by a large purple hourglass, he fell behind the group. Catching up, Wade began to speak again.

"Alright. So, this is what's happening. I am going to stand in the center of the room, just there," he said, gesturing towards a stack of crates and stools in the middle. "and the first person to snatch this quill off of me, without me noticing, wins! Easy enough, right?"

The two contestants Aranir and Ashahul glanced at each other and nodded.

"Okay! So, my good Dark Elf, would you place make your way to the far wall of the room, and Aranir, go begin over there."

The two bowmen took their places at opposite sides of the room. Aranir could no longer see the Dunmer, and it was probably mutual. He glanced back to Wade. He raised his hands high and held them for a minute. As he brought them down he yelled: "GO!"

Aranir took a deep breath and dashed towards the nearest shadow.

**A/N: I'm sorry for the very, very, very long delay. Also, probably not even the greatest chapter either. I apologize. The next one will be better I promise. **


End file.
